One of my SQL instances would not start: Server TCP provider failed to listen on port 1433, TCP port is already in use. How I found what held the port.
SQL SERVER – Database Mirroring Login Attempt Failed with Error ‘Connection Handshake Failed’
A friend using certificates on workgroup machines hit a database mirroring error: Connection Handshake Failed. Here is how I tracked it down in the ERRORLOG.
SQL SERVER – SSMS – Script Out Multiple Objects
Do you script objects one at a time in SSMS out of habit? There is a quicker way to script out multiple objects in one go, and here is how.
SQL SERVER – Installation Error – [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified
Patching SQL Server 2005 on a cluster failed with ‘Data source name not found and no default driver specified’. What caused it for a reader and the fix.
SQL SERVER – Fix Error Msg 13603 working with JSON documents
Msg 13603 appeared when I used a custom path with FOR JSON PATH, because the column alias had an invalid character. Here is how to fix it.
Nullable Foreign Keys: Optional Relationships and Outer Joins
A nullable foreign key lets a row say no relationship yet. I show what the constraint checks, why an inner join drops those rows, and where WHERE bites.
SQL SERVER Puzzle – Conversion with Date Data Types
Converting values with CAST can round in ways you don’t expect. A puzzle on Date Data Types: guess the output of each query before you run it.